In ‘Seed Stories,’ Photographer Thierry Ardouin Unveils the Stunning Diversity of Plants

Proteaceae, Banksia grandis Willd., bull banksia. All images © Thierry Ardouin/Tendance Floue/MNHN, shared with permission

The basis of life for many species, seeds hold immense power for reproduction and population. Whether a descendent of the first specimens that appeared approximately 400 million years ago or a modern hybrid cultivated to increase food production, the generative forms are often visually striking in their own right with otherworldly colors, textures, and shapes.

Photographer Thierry Ardouin showcases these marvelous, strange qualities through hundreds of striking macro shots now compiled in a forthcoming book and exhibition. Positioned against stark black or white backdrops, the specimens are primarily derived from the carpological archives of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, although some come from the International Agricultural Research Centre for Development and the Straw Cereal Biological Resource Centre. This wide-ranging collection includes the veiny, coiled moon trefoil, snake-like scorpion vetch, and small-bur marigold with its prickly body and horns.

The idea for the project germinated more than a decade ago when Ardouin was working on a documentary about French agriculture and discovered that large corporations own the patents to many seed varieties. He explains:

In 2009, in a very particular political context regarding undocumented immigrants, I noticed that there were ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ seeds. The question arose : does a “legal” seed look like an “illegal” seed? But seeds are tiny and, to see them, I had to get close to them and make portraits of them, as I would do for human beings.

He’s documented approximately 500 specimens since, half of which appear in the pages of Seed Stories to be released this month from Atelier EXB. Spanning 336 pages, the volume is a testament to the incredible diversity and resilience of the natural world. Many of the photos are also included in a group exhibition opening on June 18 at the CentQuatre Paris, which will pair the images with seeds from the National Museum of Natural History collection that visitors can touch and even taste.

Find more of Ardouin’s works on his site, and follow his latest projects on Instagram.

 

Clematis delavayi Franch. Ranunculaceae. Clématite

Fabaceae, Hippocrepis scorpioides Benth., Scorpion vetch

Medicago scutellata (L.) Mill. Fabaceae. Luzerne à ècussons.

Asteraceae, Bidens frondosa L., small-bur marigold

Hedysarum glomeratum F. Dietr. Fabaceae. Sainfoin à têtes

Fabaceae, Medicago arborea L., Moon trefoil

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Luxuriant Tufted Portraits by Artist Simone Saunders Exude Black Joy

“Excellence” (2021), hand-tufted velvet, acrylic, and wool yarn on rug warp, 152.4 x 152.4 x 1.5 centimeters. All images © Simone Saunders, shared with permission

Simone Saunders’ love-based practice adds its own texture to the magic of Black joy and resilience. On Instagram, she writes:

I celebrate the wins. I know the darkness in this world, so do you. It can drag us down. And when I post, positive messaging is key for me. To share light and love and to look at the world as vibrant and colourful as it can be….It’s reflected in my textiles, to uplift narratives often tethered to dark undertones, with the gift of bright hues. I’m not asking anyone to “smile”, because life will hurt. But hold onto your light… keep grasp of your love.

For Saunders (previously), celebrating love is not grand, abstract, or impossible to grasp. It’s as honest as a single strand of thread. Close-ups of her textiles, rug-tufting, and punch-needle works reveal what it means to paint with fabric—that is, to embrace the fluidity of color and create intricacy in its different shades, not taking the versatility or collective power of the individual pieces for granted. The artist’s attention to detail adds depth, dynamism, and life to each scene so that the subjects are captured in their full essence.

 

Left: “Queen of Spades.” Right: “Queen of Diamonds”

In The Four Queens, Saunders draws on the tradition of Art Nouveau, a period of art history specifically concerned with capturing feminine beauty and radiance. Though the artist felt an attraction to the 18th-century tradition, she couldn’t form a genuine bond with the material because of its severe underrepresentation. The heart of these whimsical scenes, the epitome of angelic beauty, was often a white face. And so, Saunders set out to create her own style: Black Nouveau.

In this approach, the essence of beauty is “Black Dreams,” “Black Power,” “Black Love,” and “Black Magic.” Powerful prints that paint the skies of each scene are reminiscent of African motifs in which stories are told through patterns and color. Saunders keeps true to her roots here and offers a connection in a genre that’s typically been limited.

Works like “Excellence” show that the gaze is the point of entry and also the home of Black liberation; where it is nurtured, where it grows, and where we are known. Whether it’s the kind expression of the “Queen of Diamonds” slouching loosely on her throne or the peering side-eye of the “Queen of Hearts,” Saunder’s works emanate the femininity, leadership, power, and joy of Black womanhood.

 

The Four Queens at Contemporary Calgary (2022)

Left: Detail of “Queen of Hearts.” Right: Detail of “Queen of Diamonds”

“Queen of Clubs”

Detail of “Queen of Spades”

“Queen of Hearts”

Detail of “Queen of Clubs”

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Interview: Heidi Gustafson Recounts Establishing an Archive Preserving Hundreds of Humanity’s Oldest Art Materials

All images © Heidi Gustafson, Early Futures, shared with permission

The word ochre tends to be associated with the warm brownish-yellow color, although it also refers to the physical substance that once removed from the earth, crushed, and combined with liquid, becomes paint. In a new interview supported by Colossal Members, we speak to forager, artist, and researcher Heidi Gustafson, who established the Early Futures Ochre Sanctuary in 2017 and has since amassed hundreds of samples of these pigments.

When you get into the nature of color (akin to tracing food from farm to table), you start to realize color symbolism has a lot of direct, solid foundations in geomorphology. Red that feels “intense or energizing” is often made of 500 million-year-old ancient volcano spew. Yellow that is “sunny” might be ochre made by spring sunlight interacting with microbes to create fresh iron hydroxide. Blue that feels “mournful or spiritual” could be made from vivianite (iron phosphate) forming in dead bodies.

In this conversation, Gustafson speaks about Early Futures, its evolution, and what it’s meant to work with a substance with such a rich and lengthy history. She discusses the multi-sensory and sometimes uncanny nature of her process, the threat the climate crisis poses to the earth’s stores, and how ochre’s legacy reaches far beyond its alluring color.

 

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Blooms Exude Presence and Personality in Bold Cyanotypes by Rosalind Hobley

All images © Rosalind Hobley, shared with permission

In London-based artist Rosalind Hobley’s expressive cyanotypes, flowers assume a portrait-like quality through varied textures and supple shapes. In her Still Life series, a cast of dahlias, anemones, roses, and peonies sit like regal subjects. Originally trained in figurative sculpture, she uses light and shade to accentuate form and gesture. “I aim for my prints to have the weight and presence of a piece of sculpture,” she tells Colossal.

Cyanotype is an early form of photography, first invented in 1842, named for the monochromatic rich blue hue of its prints. Hobley uses cotton rag paper with a light sensitive solution of iron salts and then leaves it to dry in the dark. She then exposes it to UV light under large format negatives, and finishes up by washing the prints in water, where they develop their characteristic blue color. “I love the mess and creativity of the cyanotype process,” she says. “I am interested in techniques which translate the photographic image into something more interesting and exciting. I like mistakes, blur, brushstrokes, loss of definition, spontaneity.”

Hobley has work in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, which runs June 21-August 21, 2022. She also has prints of available for sale on her website, and you can find more on Instagram.

 

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June 2022 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

Image © Nespoon

Every month, Colossal shares a selection of opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. If you’d like to list an opportunity here, please get in touch at hello@colossal.art. You can also join our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.

 

Open Calls

The 13th Epson International Pano Awards
Open internationally, the 13th annual Epson International Pano Awards celebrates all facets of panoramic photography. The competition will award more than $40,000 in prizes, including $14,000 in cash. There is an entry fee of $22 per submission.
Deadline: Midnight (UTC-11) on July 11, 2022.

International Art Textile Biennale 2023
Open to international applicants, Fibre Arts Australia is seeking submissions reflecting contemporary textile practice as an art form in the International Art Textile Biennale with prizes totaling AU$15,000. There is an entry fee of AU$75 to submit up to two artworks.
Deadline: July 17 2022.

Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize
Awarding $57,000 in cash and prizes, this annual international competition celebrates diversity and excellence in visual arts, supporting all static mediums. The top prize is $13,500, and there is a $40 entry fee.
Deadline: Midnight PST on July 17, 2022.

Faena Prize for the Arts
Artists across genres, disciplines, and technologies are invited to imagine temporary and site-specific projects to be installed at the Faena Beach during Miami Art Week 2022. The winning proposal will receive a US $100,000 prize.
Deadline: August 1, 2022.

8th National Juried Exhibition at the Oxford Arts Alliance
Now in its 8th year, the National Juried Exhibition at the Oxford Arts Alliance is hosting an open call for an October 2022 show. There’s a $30 entry fee and a top prize of $500.
Deadline: August 19, 2022.

The Bennett Prize for Women Figurative Painters
U.S.-based painters are invited to apply for the third iteration of The Bennett Prize, which awards $50,000 to one artist with a runner-up receiving $10,000. The entry fee is $40.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. MST on October 7, 2022.

 

Grants

The Velocity Fund for Philadelphia-Based Artists
By awarding grants up to $5,000 for community-focused projects, The Velocity Fund directly supports artists throughout the city of Philadelphia. Individual visual artists​ and​ artist run spaces/collectives who are located within the city limits ​of Philadelphia are encouraged to apply.
Deadline: June 6, 2022.

The Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants
Open to women-identifying artists based in the U.S., this grant awards up to $20,000 for environmental art projects. Proposals should focus on the impact of the project and must have a public engagement component.
Deadline: 5 p.m. ET on June 14, 2022.

Innovate Grants
Innovate Grant awards two $550 grants each quarter to one visual artist and one photographer. The initiative is open internationally.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PST on June 16, 2022.

Disability Communities
A series of new photography grant from Getty Images and Verizon aims to promoted authentic representation and visual stories on the community aspect of disability. Open to global photographers and videographers, the one-time grant awards one recipient $15,000, one recipient $10,000 and three recipients $5,000 each.
Deadline: June 30, 2022.

Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists
This $10,000 grant recognizes an existing body of work by a Black trans woman. It will also provide additional support for continuing their work.
Deadline: June 30, 2022.

Media Arts Assistant Fund
This fund provides individual New York-based artists with support for the completion and/or public presentation of new works in all genres of sound and moving image art, including emergent technology. Artists will receive up to $7,500 to assist in completing new work.
Deadline: July 1, 2022.

Southern Artists for Social Change
This National Performance Network program provides $25,000 project grants to artists and culture bearers of color living, working, and engaging in social change in urban, rural, and tribal communities of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Deadline: 5 p.m. CST on July 29, 2022.

$500,000 Creative Capital x Skoll Foundation Fund
Kickstarter, Creative Capital, and Skoll Foundation launched a $500,000 Creative Capital x Skoll Foundation Fund to support projects by Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx creators. Awards are given out on an ongoing basis to creators in categories like Arts, Comics & Illustration, Design & Tech, Film, Food & Craft, Games, Music, and Publishing.
Deadline: Rolling.

Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund
Adobe’s Creative Residency Community Fund commissions visual artists to create company projects on a rolling basis. Awardees will receive between $500 and $5,000.
Deadline: Rolling.

 

Residencies & Fellowships

Granite Falls Community Artist in Residence
The City of Granite Falls, MN, and the Granite Area Arts Council are requesting qualifications from interested local, regional, and national artists for a 12-week Community Artist in Residence program. The selected artist will receive lodging and studio space, a $3000 project budget, a stipend of $600 a week for 30 hours work, and an additional travel stipend of $500.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. CST on June 3, 2022.

ACE Artist in Residence Program
Open to U.S. artists across disciplines, this residency awards a $1,000 stipend and seven days in the mountains of Alta, Utah. The application fee is $10.
Deadline: June 15, 2022.

Franconia Sculpture Park Residencies
Franconia provides a communal residency experience where up to 18 selected artists live on-site at their 4500 sq. ft. farmhouse. This year’s theme is “Public Art IS Public Health.” Applicants should express an interest in investigating and creating work exploring intersectional impacts between public art and public health.
Deadline: August 1, 2022.

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In Clever Stop Motion Tutorials by Omozoc, Wooden Boards Slice Like Sticks of Butter

Stop-motion animator omozoc (previously) has a knack for making complex and labor-intensive processes look remarkably effortless. In a new series called Stop Motion Woodworking, planks of wood are sliced with kitchen knives, cookie cutters carve mortise holes like dough, and a bench scraper shapes tenons for the joints with the smoothness of a blade through a stick of butter. Satisfying chopping and slicing sounds accompany the construction of a small stool that is just the right size to hold a milk crate, which features in its own tutorial video.

Find more animations by omozoc on YouTube.

 

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Chimerical Creatures Combine Feathers and Fur in Isabel Reitemeyer’s Uncanny Collages

All images © Isabel Reitemeyer, shared with permission

Berlin-based artist Isabel Reitemeyer is known for making uncanny collages that splice images of animals and bodies into humorously enigmatic compositions. In her recent series, songbirds with guinea pig heads perch on twigs, horses with enormous bunny ears stand in fields, and a retriever looks out at us from the body of a chicken. The assemblages, which are often small in scale and made from found photographs and cutouts, are deftly aligned so that the outlines of the animals fit together seamlessly.

A bunny’s beady eye or the slight cock of a terrier’s head gives personality to each chimerical creature, as if self-aware of their unusual predicament. Reitemeyer taps into the ways we anthropomorphize our pets and other animals, reading into their expressions and feelings as if they were our own, resulting in sly and unusual personalities.

You can find more of Reitemeyer’s collages on her website and on Instagram.

 

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